Don’t Get Overwhelmed by Paris Museums

There are many, many museums here in Paris—about 150 of them. Unless you’re a total museum addict, it’s probably best to choose a couple based on your interests, especially if you’re only in Paris for a few days.

The Paris Museum Pass website is a good place to start. It lists the various museums and monuments, and provides lots of information alongside an interactive map.

The site also sells a Museum Pass, which costs 39 euros for two days of unlimited museum-ing. If you only plan to check out a couple of museums, however, it probably isn’t worth it. Just go to the individual museum’s websites to purchase advance tickets.

Note: Admission to most museums is free to those under the age of 18, and totally free on the 1st Sunday of each month.

On the top floor, you’ll find a spectacular “Kodak moment”: two massive clock faces overlook the Seine and Sacré Coeur on the hill. Take a photo through the clock face for a unique angle and a sweeping view.

Hours: The Musée d'Orsay is open every day except Mondays, from 9.30 a.m. – 6 p.m. (9.45 p.m. Thursdays)

The Musée Luxembourg is one of Paris’s oldest museums—it was commissioned by Marie de Medici in the early 17th century. Today, it houses masterpieces by artists like Botticelli, Raphaël, Titian, Gauguin, and Matisse, and is accompanied by 60 acres of gardens featuring an orangery, a fruit garden, and many trees, flowering shrubs and fountains.

Hours: Open every day from 10 a.m. - 7.30 p.m. (10 p.m. Fridays and Mondays).

Admission: 11 euros for adults / 7.50 euros for young people aged 16-25 / free for those under 16.

The Musée Rodin is housed in a mansion built between 1727 and 1732, formerly called the Hôtel Peyrenc de Moras and now known as the Hôtel Biron.

From 1911 onwards, sculptor Auguste Rodin occupied the entire mansion, which was then owned by the French government. After he donated several of his sculptures, the building was named for him—Musée Rodin—and Rodin became the manager of the collection. Nearly 300 works from Rodin's collection are on view in this mansion, which features classical architecture adorned by rocaille decoration.

Both the house and the garden are worth a visit.

Location: 79 Rue d Varenne, 75007 Paris

Hours: Open daily except 1st Jan, 1st May & 25th Dec, from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. On Wednesdays the museum is open until 8:45 p.m. and the gardens until 11 p.m.

Over 50,000 military objects are on display in this museum, and “the golden dome” [Eglise di Dôme] houses the tomb of Napoleon 1, his son, and other famous military figures. There are also an exhibit and multimedia show about General Charles de Gaulle [this part is closed on Mondays].

Location: 129, rue de Grenelle, Paris 75007

Hours: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. from April 1 to Sep 30; 10 a.m.— 5 p.m. from Oct 1 to Mar 31. Late opening until 9 p.m. on Tuesdays from April to September. Closed on Jan 1, on May 1 and on Dec 25.

And a few more of our favorites...

Hello! We are Ralph and Karen, an Anglo-American couple who fell in love with Paris and France over 20 years ago. Work-related trips brought us here, but we kept coming back for holidays, then extended visits, and then… In 2005, we decided nothing was stopping us from buying a place of our own in Paris. Lots of research, learning, and many kilometers of sneaker-rubber later, we put our house in the United States on the market. It sold in 10 days, and we found our apartment in Montmartre two months later. After a massive, year-long renovation project and its many challenges, we hit our biggest bump yet. As it turned out, we had to stay based in the US after all. Our lovingly remodeled apartment in Paris became a place where we returned only for short visits. In 2008, we started renting to guests—travelers like we once were (we always preferred apartments over expensive, cramped hotels). And the rest, as they say, is history. Le Trésor de Montmartre has proved quite popular, to the extent that we have trouble finding a break in the booking calendar to stay there ourselves! In the midst of this, we found Nice. After several holidays in and around Nice, we thought, why not buy a pied-à-terre in the area? Despite the challenges involved in renovating from afar—which we knew very well at that point—we jumped in again in late 2010. After another renovation, another year, and hundreds more gray hairs between us, we added Le Trésor de Nice to our rental portfolio. A year so so later we picked up 3 other apartment to manage. We hope you find the properties inviting, and hope even more that you will come see them for yourselves! Please get in touch with questions, or to book your stay at one of our apartments. We’d be happy to share our insider knowledge of these places we love so much.

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